A CAGenWeb Project 

Sonoma County Genealogy

Occidental

(Summit, Meeker’s, Howard’s Summit,

and Howard’s Station)

  • Genealogy
  • About The Town
  • People & Other Entities
  • Maps
  • Photos
  • Citations
Table of Contents

Occidental is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 1,115 at the 2010 census, down from 1,272 at the 2000 census. Occidental has a total area of 4.97 sq mi (12.9 km2), all of it land. The large number of craft breweries and wineries in the area have made Barley and Hops Tavern and Sonoma Fine Wine store in downtown Occidental local and tourist destinations.  [1]



Genealogy


GenealogyOnline:  About the Town Occidental . . . Link

Surnames: O'dell


LDS genealogy.com: Occidental . . . Link


Roadside Thoughts: Occidental California . . . Link


Sonoma County Genealogical Society . . . Link


The web site "The Cockrill Family of Sonoma County" [Link] has a wonderful collection of local genealogy including the following with ties to this town: John Chistopher Parmeter,



About The Town


Founded in 1876, Occidental was a stop on the North Pacific Coast Railroad connecting Cazadero to the Sausalito ferry. In return for donating right-of-way to the railroad, a local landowner named "Dutch Bill" Howards received a lifetime railway pass, and the station was named after him. The railway caused a rapid expansion of the timber industry, and by 1877 there were six sawmills in the Occidental area. Trains also brought vacationers from San Francisco. Howard’s Station Cafe is a restaurant that is located at the old narrow gauge railroad stop in downtown Occidental. [1]


Occidental
Occidental started as a railroad town. The first settler was Michael Kolmer who leased part of the Bodega Rancho Spanish land grant in 1848, two and a half miles west of Occidental in Coleman Valley, once known as Kolmer Valley. The settlement was later called Howard's Station, after William Howard, who had come here in 1848 and was the first settler to own his land. The first mill in the immediate area of Occidental, was built about a mile south of the present townsite in 1859 and run by Messrs. Mudge, Phelps and Perkins until 1862. In 1866, Melvin C. Meeker began processing lumber through a mill located close to the site of the original Mudge operation. By 1876, nine months after the completion of the North Pacific Coast Railroad, there were three sawmills in the Occidental area, and by 1877 there were six. In 1876, the post office was named the Occidental Post Office. In 1877, the population of the town of Occidental was estimated at around 50 people, and an 1880 census describes 97 residents. . . . [Archived Website. Link [6]]



American Towns . . . Link


Permit Sonoma: Occidental . . . Link


Occidental - Russian River Historical Society . . . Link


Occidental Today [Niche] (has a map of location) . . . Link


Occidental Wikipedia Page . . . Link


Sonoma County Life Opens Up: Occidental. . . Link


WikiVoyage: Occidental . . . Link


Check Sonoma Historian (SCHS) for articles about the towns. . . .  Link



People & Other Entities


Howard's Station (1876-1937) . . . Link

The depot in Occidental, initially called Howards Station, was a wood framed gable roofed building with vertical wood siding divided into a ticket office, waiting room, and baggage room. The train began running to Occidental in 1876. The Occidental Depot was demolished circa 1937. [7]


Melvin Cyrus Meeker . . . Link

In 1866, Melvin C. Meeker began processing lumber through a mill located close to the site of the original Mudge operation. [6]

In 1876, Melvin Cyrus “Boss” Meeker arrived in the area; he was successful in acquiring land for timber and began his own steam powered sawmill in 1866 (Hill1997). Meeker, anticipating the economic benefits of the approaching North Pacific Coast Railroad laid out and built the adjacent town of Occidental in a grid pattern.  [7]


Messrs. Mudge, Phelps and Perkins . . . Link

The first mill in the immediate area of Occidental, was built about a mile south of the present townsite in 1859 and run by Messrs. Mudge, Phelps and Perkins until 1862. [6]


Michael Kolmer . . . Link

The first settler was Michael Kolmer who leased part of the Bodega Rancho Spanish land grant in 1848, two and a half miles west of Occidental in Coleman Valley, once known as Kolmer Valley.  [6]


Occidental Methodist/Episcopal Church (1876) . . . Link

Meeker was instrumental in helping to construct the Occidental Methodist/Episcopal Church in 1876, as well as the Union Hotel in 1879. [7]


Summit House (Altamont Hotel) (1876-1924) . . . Link

In 1876 Cyrus Meeker commissioned the construction of a 29-room hotel to coincide with the arrival of the North Pacific Coast Railroad. The hotel is named Summit House, but its name is later changed to the Altamont Hotel. The hotel is one of the earliest businesses in Occidental. In 1924, the Altamont Hotel was destroyed by a fire which burned approximately two blocks on the east side of Occidental between Second and Minna Streets. [7]


Taylor Building (1886-1906, rebuilt) & William Freeman Taylor . . . Link

In 1886, the original Taylor Building was constructed by William Freeman Taylor, a Nova Scotia native who ran a grain warehouse and livery stable on adjoining lots, as a general merchandise store with living quarters above. The building was destroyed by fire in 1906 and was rebuilt by Taylor in a replica of the original 1886 building. [7]


Union Hotel (1879) . . . Link

Meeker was instrumental in helping to construct the Occidental Methodist/Episcopal Church in 1876, as well as the Union Hotel in 1879.  [7]   In 1879 Amelia Jones constructed a two story building, the Union Hotel and Saloon, on land sold to her by William Howard. The Union Hotel was damaged by the [1924] fire, but not destroyed.  [7]


William Howard . . . Link

The settlement (in Kolmer Valley) was later called Howard's Station, after William Howard, who had come here in 1848 and was the first settler to own his land.  [6]

. . . the town of Howard’s was the creation of one of the area’s early settlers and principal landowners, William Howard (also known as “Dutch Bill”) who arrived in the around 1849. Howard’s holdings, which composed the town of Howards, included the land north of 3rd Street (at the present day Altamont Bar and Grille).  [7]



Maps


Map of Occidental, with boundaries [BingMaps] . . . Link


Map of Occidental [MapQuest] . . . Link



Photos


Occidental, 1955 . . . Link







Citations:


[1]   Wikipedia contributors. "Occidental, California." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 9 Aug. 2022. Web. 28 Sep. 2022. . . . Link


[2]   "Historical and Descriptive Sketch Book of Napa, Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino: Comprising Sketches of Their Topography, Productions, History, Scenery, and Peculiar Attractions", C.A. Menefee, 1873 . . . Link


[3]   "Historical and Descriptive Sketch of Sonoma County, California" Robert Allan Thompson. L.H. Everts, 1877 - Sonoma County (Calif.) - 104 pages. [ ???  pp 100-101]  . . . Link


[4]  "History of Sonoma County: Including Its Geology, Topography, Mountains, Valleys and Streams ...."' United States, Higginson Book Company, 1880. (page ???.) . . . Link . . . Text at CAGenWeb


[5]   "An Illustrated History of Sonoma County, California: Containing a History of the County of Sonoma from the Earliest Period of Its Occupancy to the Present Time", Lewis Publishing, 1889  . . . Link


[6]   Archived Website: "Towns of Sonoma County Past and Present". Accessed on 15 Sep 2022.

https://web.archive.org/web/20071021085407/http://users.ap.net/~chenae/socotown.html 


[7]   Website: "Permit Sonoma: Occidental".  Accessed on 15 Sep 2022.  Run by Sonoma County.

 https://permitsonoma.org/divisions/planning/historicresources/sonomacountyhistory/occidental